TONY PULIS admits his players were showing signs of fatigue as they claimed a 1-1 draw with Preston, but the Middlesbrough manager still feels his side’s draw at Deepdale capped a fine four days.

Marcus Tavernier’s strike in the opening minute of the second half cancelled out Alan Browne’s first-half opener for Preston, and ensured Boro extended their unbeaten run to eight matches in all competitions.

The Teessiders were not at their best for much of the evening, with injuries to Rudy Gestede and Lewis Wing necessitating a succession of personnel and formation changes that disrupted their rhythm.

Leeds United’s win over Reading means Boro have dropped to third position in the table, but having watched his side secure a 2-1 win at Brentford at the weekend, Pulis is satisfied with a four-point haul from two difficult away games.

“We started poorly,” admitted the Boro boss. “We started really slow, we were very, very slow out of the blocks and they were by far the better team. But then we got ourselves back in the game and actually when they scored the goal, we looked as though we were the team that was going to score.

“So we’re pleased we got the point, but disappointed we didn’t get all three with the opportunities we had in the second half, and the three clear-cut headers in the box that we should be making the goalkeeper save

“Having said that, I can’t be too critical of the players. Going to Brentford and then coming here, before the games had started, if you’d said we’d get four points, you’d bite people’s hands off because that second game is always really, really difficult.

“This is a difficult place to come, and they’ve won their last four games at home. This is the bounce game, it’s the one that’s really difficult. It’s two games away from home, and that second game is always hard.”

Pulis switched to a five-man backline for the first time in three matches, and the switch did not really work as planned as Boro struggled to get a foothold for the opening half-hour.

An injury to Gestede forced Pulis to change things, and while the Boro boss was forced to abandon a brief experiment that saw Dael Fry briefly playing at the heart of midfield, he eventually struck upon a system that enabled his side to take control of the game.

“As the manager, you have to take the responsibility,” he said. “The shape we started with, we didn’t look comfortable with it. Whether that was the players in certain positions doing certain things for you or not, I don’t know. But once we changed it, I thought we got much more into the game and were much more productive.

“The thing is, after the Brentford game, you are looking at one or two players and they've given so much. Mo's (Besic) had 25 games already and we haven't got to December yet. (Jonny) Howson and (Stewart) Downing also work very hard in that area.

“Mo was always going to have tonight off. He played two games abroad – the last game against Spain he did a lot of work if you have a look at his stats – the Brentford game was his game and Saturday will be his game. We've got to be realistic and careful with some of these lads.”

It initially looked as though Gestede had suffered a recurrence of the ankle injury that plagued him last season, but instead Pulis revealed the striker has damaged his hamstrings. Either way, he faces another lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Wing’s problem is more of a mystery, as he entered the dressing room at half-time complaining of extreme dizziness. The problem continued to trouble him at the start of the second half, and he was hastily withdrawn.

He travelled back to Teesside with the rest of the squad last night, and will be reassessed by Boro’s medical staff at Rockliffe Park this morning.

“Let’s see how Lewis is,” said Pulis. “That was a bit of a concern tonight because you don’t really want to see a player coming off because he feels giddy or a little bit sick. The doctor will assess him tomorrow and we’ll see what the cause of it is, and take it from there.

“I think he went and complained that he felt a bit giddy at half-time. Then obviously after a couple of minutes, he didn’t feel brilliant so we brought him off. We’ll have to assess that and the docs will have a look at him. We’ll take a view in the morning.

“Rudy will be out. We’re not sure how bad it is, but it’s his hamstring. Again, it’ll be a bit of a blow for us. He’s not had much luck since I’ve been here, and he was picking up injuries as well under the other manager.”